“I think that [gun control] debate’s going to happen, it has already started. But you look at this person, again, almost a creature, if he couldn’t have gotten access to guns, what kind of bomb he would have manufactured. We’re at a time an information age where there’s access to all kinds of information,” he said. “I think he was almost a terrorist that wanted to take away not just from the people here, but from the country, our ability to enjoy life, to go to a movie theater. Which for most of us is a refuge where we can get away from the pressures of life. It’s a human issue. How are we not able to identify someone like this who is so deeply, deeply disturbed?”

The Hill notes that Hickenlooper also seemed to dismiss calls for tougher gun control during an interview on CNN’s State of the Union. “This person, if there were no assault weapons available, if there were no this or no that, this guy’s going to find something. Right? He’s going to know how to create a bomb,” he said.